From The Heart ab im o pectore
by JunoStarr
Summary: Now home from Kenya, Lara and hilary find themselves more relaxed than before in each others company. Just how relaxed though, remains to be seen.
1. ab im o pectore

_**'From the Heart'**_

Finally pulled my finger out and this is my first fic, be gentle and please review!  
Thanks to Jenn for helping me out and beta-ing for me, I owe you one honey!

**Disclaimer:** I don't own any of the characters (sadly) they're just on loan! Heh.

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As the black limousine pulled into the driveway to Croft Manor, Lara looked out of the window up at the house they were approaching and sighed. She was home.

Now back from Kenya, Lara was glad, more so to be home than she had been on returning from any other previous trips.

The car stopped outside the main doors to the house at the end of the vast drive, and Lara stepped out of the car. Surveying her home, she stood relishing the feeling of how good it was to be back. More clicks of the car doors behind her signified Bryce and Hillary exiting the vehicle also. They had never joined her before on one of her trips, but she must admit, she felt rather comforted having them around.

"Bloody hell is it good to be home!" exclaimed Bryce loudly. Lara laughed.

"I'm shattered mate." He said to Hillary. "Dunno about you. Don't worry about my bags...being as it were we were held at gunpoint before we left, I can't say I got the chance to pack anything!" And with that he marched off in the direction of the grounds towards the rear of the house, where his caravan was situated.

Lara turned to face Hillary. "It's been a long trip."

"It has indeed." he replied. "I'll make a start on some dinner once these bags are put away." He motioned to the luggage the driver was now unpacking from the boot of the car. He looked back across at her as she sighed, her eyes closed, smiling.

"Glad to be home, M'Lady?"

"Like you wouldn't believe Hil." she answered. "I think a stiff drink is in order after dinner. In fact, several!" she laughed, as they made their way to the front doors of the house.

This particular adventure had taken its toll on Lara, for one, because it was the longest she had been away for quite some time. She was also exhausted from all the physical exertion; the flying, driving and running, as well as the constant battle to keep her life!

A nice long, hot shower was in order, she thought. That would help ease the pain in her muscles for a start. How she longed just to collapse onto her bed as she walked through her room to reach the bathroom, but Hillary was going to the trouble of making dinner, even though he must be exhausted himself. She couldn't possibly let him down like that.

Whilst under the hot spray, Lara thought back to how good it was to see Hillary and Bryce out in Africa with her, granted though at first it was not under the best of circumstances. But afterwards, once the Cradle of Life had been destroyed, she had finally relaxed. She had enjoyed spending time with them away from the business at Croft Manor, Hillary in particular. She had, she realised, never spent any time with him away from his duties there, and so when she saw him out in Kenya with herself and Bryce, he was totally at ease. That was the real Hillary, not the formal Hillary who must act so due to work dictations. He was different away from his work at Croft Manor - this was a side of him she had not really had the chance to experience, and yet decided she really enjoyed spending time with.

After her shower Lara slid on a pair of black silk pyjamas, clothes being too restricting in her tiring state. She padded down to the kitchens where Hillary was just serving up dinner.

"Smells gorgeous Hil!" she inhaled the delicious aroma. "I'm hungrier than I realised now, I think!"

Hillary carried a tray with the food up to the dinning room and placed it on the laid out space for Lara.

"Why don't you join me Hil?" Lara asked him. "Save us both eating alone, won't it?"

"If you don't mind M'Lady?" he inquired.

Lara smiled over at him whilst sitting herself down. "...Of course not! Don't be silly! Bring up a bottle of wine - I think we deserve it after everything that's happened!"

Hillary poured them a glass of wine each and they settled down to their meal. Lara, although desperate to see the side of Hillary she had glimpsed in Kenya, suddenly found herself at a loss for what to say to him. They ate mostly in silence, but after 15 minutes or so, the wine began to loosen Lara up a little.

"Bloody hell!" She exclaimed. "What on earth is the matter with us?!" She started to laugh.

"M'lady?" Hillary enquired, looking at her with a slight amused expression at her outburst.

"We're never usually short of conversation Hil." She looked over the table at him.

"I'm sorry Lara," he sighed. "I guess the journey home has worn me out."

"What did you make of it all? First time you've had a first hand glance at what I get up to when I'm away really..."

Hillary paused, and took a sip of his drink before answering. "Yes."

He paused again.

"To tell the truth I don't know what I expected really. It certainly opened my eyes. You get thrown straight in at the deep end and I've been none the wiser in the past about what happens. True, I have always feared for your safety - but it's going to be more so now when I know what sort of danger you are likely to encounter in future expeditions. It scares me to be honest."

Lara smiled coyly over at him. She felt so touched by this man's compassion and worry. He really cared, not just as a butler, but also as a friend; his true nature towards this now confirmed.

"Don't worry about me Hil..." she reassured him. "...I'm a tough girl!" Lara grinned cheekily trying to lighten the mood somewhat - she didn't like to see her friend worry too much.

They decided to move their conversation to one of the sitting rooms, and locating a comfortable enough looking sofa, Lara promptly collapsed onto it.

"Come sit down Hil, take a load off. Heaven knows you must need it." She looked over to him standing across the room.

"That's very kind of you Lara," he replied. "Thank you." He sat down at the opposite end of the sofa to her, before refilling both of their glasses.

Their conversation became more relaxed and intimate as the evening wore on, each leaning in closer to the other, eager to hear more of what they had been up to before Lara's archaeological adventures and Hillary joining Croft Manor.

Lara found that she was so engrossed in what Hillary was telling her about him, that she didn't realise at first her hand was touching his arm now and then as he spoke. She was also watching his face closely as he talked, taking in and studying his kind and gentle features.

It was around this time Lara realised she was starting to feel the beginnings of being drunk. She became aware of Hillary resting his hand against her leg as he leant forward to pour them yet more wine. When he settled back he turned to look at her and smiled. Something in that smile made Lara's heart melt. He was completely at ease in her company, more so now that the wine had relaxed them both.

"I wonder," thought Lara...

"...No! Where did that come from?!" She scolded herself, and pushed the thoughts to the back of her mind.

But in her alcohol induced state, Lara wondered how far she could take this for a bit of fun...

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	2. Actions speak louder than words

Disclaimer: Again, thanks goes to Jenn for beta-ing this next chapter, cheers babe! And sadly, none of these characters belong to me, I'm just borrowing them!

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**Part Two**

As Hilary sat back on the sofa, he rested his head along its back and turned to face Lara, who was in turn, doing the same. They held each others gaze for what seemed like several minutes, drinking in one another's features, before Hilary reached his hand to Lara's face and brushed away a strand of hair.

She smiled and looked down.

"God" thought Hilary. What was he doing? The wine was obviously affecting him more than he realised.

By the time he looked back to Lara he noticed her head was resting an awful lot closer to his than it was a few minutes ago! When he turned his head to face her they were practically nose-to-nose.

Hilary sighed deeply, what he was about to do went against everything his job stood for, but he didn't think he could hold himself back any longer. The way he was feeling right now, he couldn't _not_ take the chance.

He extended his hand once again to Lara's face, and traced her smooth jaw line with his thumb. She looked at him with docile eyes, before resting her forehead against his for several seconds, closing her eyes, her lips gently brushed against his.

Hilary breathed in deeply, and cupped her chin, whilst his lips continued to caress Lara's. After several seconds they drew apart slightly, Lara still resting her head against Hilary's. Neither could believe this was actually happening, initially urged on by the large quantities of alcohol they had consumed, something else now appeared to be stirring. She smiled a heart breaking smile before Hilary once again leaned in to continue their kiss.

After a few minutes of this gentle exploration, Lara shifted herself up slightly, and positioned herself so that she had a leg either side of Hilary's, straddling him whilst now sitting on his lap. Their feverish kissing continued, neither wanting to break this contact they had. Lara felt Hilary's hands gliding down her back, before he slowly slid one underneath her silky negligee top, exploring her smooth skin. The sheer idea that Hilary's strong but gentle hands were gilding over her body turned Lara on even more and she let out a soft moan of pleasure.

That just about did it for Hilary, he couldn't take it any longer. In one swoop he stood up, picking Lara up with him so she now had her legs wrapped around his waist.

"Your room or mine" he breathed heavily in between kisses.

"Mine" Lara whispered in return, hurriedly un-tucking Hilary's shirt from his trousers before pushing his jacket over his broad shoulders.

They came out of the living room and crossed over the large hallway towards the vast staircase, Hilary still carrying Lara. Once they reached the bottom of the stairs Hilary's jacket was the first thing to go, hitting the floor as they made their way up to the first landing. About half way up they backed into a pillar at the side of the staircase in their frenzy, were Lara proceeded to slide down it taking Hilary with her until they were now lying on the stairs themselves. She gently wound her fingers around the buttons of his shirt and began to ease each one open in turn.

"Not here..." mumbled Hilary. It took him all of his strength to say that....god how he wanted to!

By now his shirt was wide open and Lara was slowly unbuckling his belt. Before she had the chance to finish it he scooped her up and began the rest of the ascent up the stairs. Just as they reached the top his belt clattered to the floor.

"Bloody hell" he laughed and looked into Lara's eyes.

She grinned back at him, running her fingers through his hair before drawing his face closer for an intense kiss.

They finally reached Lara's room, the door flying open and slamming against the wall as the pair stumbled through. Hilary quickly kicked it shut and backed Lara towards the foot of the bed.

She looked up at him with his hair all ruffled and shirt undone. Christ, was it possible for him to look even better in this dishevelled state than when in his usually immaculate uniform? The answer was a definite yes for Lara. She couldn't take her eyes off his toned chest, all those years of training with her had worked wonders on his body. She realised she needed to feel the strength of his body against hers, to feel his weight on her.

In between their frantic kisses Lara began to undo Hilary's trousers and slowly eased them down. He, in turn, slipped both of his strong hands under her negligee top and lifted it clean over her head in one quick movement.

"Blimey" Lara thought, "he really knows what he's doing". This excited her even more, the thought of her kind and gentle butler, friend even, being so skilled in this particular act.

Hilary backed Lara once again towards the foot of the bed, covering her in kisses down her neck until she was lying down against the soft linen sheets. In the same effortless way in which he removed her top, he eased her silky pants down over her hips, where they were quickly discarded onto the floor. He then proceeded to work his way up her body, kissing her every so often across her belly, up to her chest, and then nibbling gently around her neck when Lara wrapped her legs around his hips once more.

She knew this would get him going even more, it had never failed before with her past lovers. He ran a hand down her smooth thigh, trailed it up her side, sending shivers all over her body, and then along her arm, wrapping it around her wrist and holding her arm above her head as they kissed furiously. Lara gasped as he entered her, slowly at first, until they found a rhythm with one another. In her ecstasy she bit Hilary's shoulder trying to drown out the cries of excitement that welled up inside her.

"God...sorry..." she managed to gasp before she was silenced by an intense kiss.

After a while Lara decided it was her turn to show Hilary just what she could really do, and gathering some strength, rolled them over so that she was now astride of him, her thighs gripping him either side of his waist. She threaded her fingers through his and pinned his arms down either side of his body, this was clearly having the desired effect as he quickened his pace to meet her, a low growl emulating from his throat.

They later collapsed, exhausted, onto the bed, still entwined with one another as they eventually drifted off to sleep.

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The following morning Hilary was the first to wake. He lay on his back staring at the ceiling for several minutes, still taking in the course of the nights events whilst his head throbbed from the amounts of alcohol consumed the night before. He turned his head slowly towards Lara, watching her breathing softly, still in the depths of sleep. Closing his eyes briefly, Hilary let out a quiet sigh and slipped out of the bed. Collecting his trousers and shirt from various spots around the floor of the room he headed to the door, stopping only once to turn around and take a final look at the sleeping girl he had bedded the previous evening.

He closed the door quietly behind him and made his way across the landing. On his descent of the stairs he encountered his belt and jacket strewn randomly about half way down. He quickly collected them and ran down the remainder of the stairs and headed towards his own quarters.

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Lara awoke not long after and immediately guessed that Hilary was no longer in her bed before she had turned around. When she did roll over, she extended her arm out over the side of the bed where he lay next to her not but a few hours earlier. Lara sat up and held her knees close to her chest, wrapping the linen sheet around her protectively. Looking down she saw bruising around her left wrist. It had been were Hilary was gripping her tightly the night before, they had both been a little carried away, and she thought back to the bite mark she must have left on his neck.

Lara surveyed the room. She had no idea where to go from here, neither it seemed, did Hilary, due to his silent and hasty departure during the early hours. The more she thought about it, the more confused Lara felt...he had just left her, without saying a word. What on earth, she thought, developing a slightly sick feeling in the pit of her stomach, was that about?

**[If anyone wants me to continue this fic then I will! Otherwise, I want to see how it works so far!]**


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